Garment-supporter



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES W. BEAUMONT, OF VATERBURY, CONNECTICUT.

eARMENT-SUPPORTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 502,393, dated August 1, 1893.

Application filed September 3, 1892. Serial No. 444,957. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, J AMES W. BEAUMONT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Waterbury, New Haven county, in the State of Connecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Clamps for Garment-Supporters, of which the following is a specification.

My clamp is adapted for connecting an elastic strap or band to a stocking or other garment which is to be supported. lt is cheap, simple and durable, does not present any considerable thickness to annoy the wearer, and involves in its construction the desired elastic action with sufficient friction to insure the maintenance of its hold. It is composed of two paris, one sliding upon the other, the sta` tionary part having a straight llat shank with a slight lip at its lower end standing at right angles to the main part. The slide has a body shorter than the shank and a little Wider, with its edges bent over and loosely embracing the edges of the shank and having its lower end extending downward and inclined obliquely outward. ln use this slide is brought down and grips the garment between the lip of the stationary part and the inclined wing of the slide. I roughen or groove the surfaces transversely, to aid in holding the garment directly, and also to aid in preventingthe slide from being accidentally moved upward so as to relax its hold.

The acccompanying drawings form a part of this specification and represent what I consider the best means of carrying. out the invention.

Figure l is a face View, Fig. 2 an edge view, and Fig. 3 a rear view of the clamp and its suspending elastic engaged Vwith the upper edge of a stocking or other garment. Figs. 4 and 5 are on a larger scale. Fig. 4 is a face view, and Fig. 5 a section on the line 5--5 in Fig. 4.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures where they appear.

A is the body or shank formed with a loop at its upper end, adapted to engage with the elastic C, and a lip A at its lower end.

B is a slide attached loosely to the shank A by having its edges B2 embracing the edges of the part A by being folded over, as shown,

and having an inclined wing B at its lower end adapted, when the slide is depressed, to clamp the garment M between itself and the lip A. The tension upon the garment is resisted by the grip of the inclined wing B and the lip A. The considerable friction of the slide B and its folded edges B2 on the shank A increased by the pressure of the wing B on the garment, holds the clamp reliably engaged. It is easy to disengage the stocking or other article of clothing by moving the slide B, B', B2, forcibly upward on the shank A.` The parts being made of hard brass or analogous metal yield elastically so thata iirm pull of the slide downward grips very strongly.

My clamp holds the garment reliably and avoids risk of tearing it.

I attach importance to the fact that the lip A stands at right angles to the shank A, and that the wing B which serves as the other part of the clamp is straight and oblique.

The clamp presents no considerable thickness to annoy the wearer.

In what l esteem the most complete form of Athe invention the rubbing surfaces are grooved transversely, as indicated at a and b. The grooves b on the inner face of the wing B promote the firm grip of the clamp on the fabric, and aided by the elasticity of the material of the clamp increase the certainty of holding the garment reliably when subjected to alternate changes of condition,-from a strong tension to complete looseness and shaking. The elasticity of the metal of the clamp retains the grip on the garment under all these conditions. The grooves a on the body of the shank A are engaged by a burr or thin in-turned lip b on the upper edge of the slide B. The grooving or roughening of these surfaces is especially useful in retaining the hold when the tension is slackened and the parts are subjected to agitation.

I claim as my inventionl. In a clamp for garment supporters, the shank A and lip A at its lower end, standing at right angles thereto, in combination with the slide B, having a short bearing on the said shank, and the inclined wing Bon such slide arranged to seize the garment M between such wing and such lip and cause the friction of the slide on the shank to be therebyincreased, substantially as herein specified.

IOO

2. In a garment supporter, the clamp described having the shank .A formed with the transverse grooves a on its upper portion and the lip A at its lower end, in combination with the slideB having the inclined wing B at its lower end, and the burr or ill-turned lip b at its upper end, the slide being retained against displacement by the engagelnentof the lips b in the grooves a and to be engaged and released substantially as herein specified.

3. The clamp described having the shank A with the lip A at its lower end, and the grooves t on one of its faces near the top, in

combination with the slide B carrying the lip or burr b at its upper end, and the inclined 15 wing B having grooves b on its under face,

JAMES W. BEAUMONT.

Witnesses:

J. H. GUERNSEY, G. B. WILSON. 

